Tag: london

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Tiny little starter

I have enjoyed the meals I have had at the Fullers’ hotels I have stayed at, Drayton Court, and the Fox and Goose. I was recently back in London and I chose to stay at The Queen’s Head in Kingston, which is another Fullers’ hotel. Smaller, and more like a pub with rooms, I found it a lovely place to stay. The staff were warm, friendly and welcoming. I liked the bar area, which felt nostalgic, but still smart and tidy. I liked the wooden furniture and fittings.

The room I had was nice, it certainly had character. It had very tall ceilings and all the furniture you would expect in a hotel room and then some. I liked how it had an Nespresso machine and a fridge. Drayton Court had a Nespresso machine, but no fridge, whilst the Fox and Goose had a fridge, but didn’t have a coffee machine. I was pleased with my choice.

I went downstairs to the bar to eat, there was a similar menu available to the other Fullers’ hotels. I looked over the menu and for my starter I had the pig cheek, potato puree, shallots, chervil, with a white wine sauce. There were quite a few starters on the menu that I liked the idea of, but decided to go with this dish, as I’ve not had anything like it before. It arrived quite promptly.

This was definitely a starter sized portion. There was a deliciously tender pork cheek delicately placed on top of the  potato puree. There was a great tasting sauce, and it was garnished with the shallots and chopped chervil. I really enjoyed the starter, it was a great start to my meal.

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Steak Salad Bowl

Though I much prefer the Bristol street food scene, you can’t really dismiss the range and choice of food at the Leather Lane Street Food market in London (and the fact that it is open all week (well I know it’s open from Monday to Friday, I couldn’t tell you about the weekend). I have had some great food at the market, but I’ve also had some disappointing meals.

Back in April I was walking up and down the road thinking about what to get to eat, there are a lot of similar stalls along the market, so sometimes it’s not just about choosing what to eat, but when that decision is made, where to go and buy it. I had walked the length of the road when I saw the Marrakech Grill, a stand I hadn’t recalled seeing before.

There wasn’t really a queue, which sometimes is a warning sign, however I watched as people ordered and were served their food. It did look really good.

So, I joined the queue and ordered a Marrakech Steak Salad Bowl, which was just six pounds. This was really good price compared to similar dishes elsewhere in the market.

This was a very generous bowl of food, with a range of mixed salads, chips, and a good sized portion of steak.

I took it back to our office to eat.

The salad were excellent, the chips were crisp, and the steak was delicious. I was really impressed with this bowl of food.

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A really disappointing Thai meal

I was looking through some photographs of food, and realised that in April when I was up in London I had a few meals which I hadn’t blogged about. Sometimes I write up the dining experiences I have on the same day, in the same week, or quite soon after that. Now and then I have food and then never get around to writing a blog post about it. In April I had been quite busy travelling across the UK to attend meetings and conferences. Having said that, I think the reason I didn’t write this meal up, was that I had quite high expectations about the meal and was then somewhat disappointed with what I actually had. So, why was I disappointed with the meal, lets read on.

I had eaten at a branch of Rosa’s Thai in Liverpool’s Albert Dock the month before and that had been really nice, so finding a branch in Ealing I decided I would have dinner there. It had a similar look and feel to the branch in Liverpool, even though it was not in a docks area.

I had a look over the menu and there was quite a bit of choice, but I wanted to have something different from what I had eaten in Liverpool. 

For my starter I went the salt and pepper squid. 

plate of crispy squid

This was pieces of squid deep fried in crispy batter, served with a dipping sauce and quite a large amount of fresh chilli. It was rather nice and tasty.

For my main I had the Crab Fried Rice. I was asked if I wanted anything with the rice, I had assumed though at £13.50 and where it was in the menu this was a main, not a side dish. It was described as fried rice (or khao pad), a simple, wonderful Thai staple. Jasmine rice, stir-fried with eggs, onions, ginger, spring onions and crab meat. It sounded really nice. However what I was served was this.

plate of fried rice

I challenge you to spot the crab in the dish! I was really disappointed with the rice dish. There was almost no crab in the dish, and certainly I couldn’t taste the crab. I did think about complaining, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what I would be complaining about, I had ordered a dish, and it arrived as described. I had also been asked to clarify that this is what I wanted when I ordered it. I think, though the dish was disappointing, there wasn’t an actual problem with the dish. I also thought about ordering another main dish to have with the rice, but this would have racked up the cost of the meal. In the end I would have to chalk this one up to experience and I would most certainly not order this again.

Whilst writing this, I saw that it was still on the menu, it’s more expensive at £16, but now comes topped with crispy fried soft shell crab. Still, even then, I wouldn’t order it again.  I wonder if other people had had the dish, but had complained, which is why they changed it.

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Time for chicken and wild mushrooms

I was in London and staying at The Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel part is now a new build at the back.  The menu changes every so often, and they always seem to have a range of choices, that means it can be difficult to choose what to have.

I generally don’t choose the chicken when ordering from a menu. Usually as it something I can cook easily at home. When out and about I like to order stuff I don’t, wouldn’t, or couldn’t cook at home. However when I read corn-fed chicken supreme with truffle mash, wild mushroom sauce & crispy kale, I was like, well that’s what I am having. The idea of wild mushrooms sounds nice, and the truffle mash sounded delicious. So, it was pretty much a no-brainer to order the dish.

It looked great when it arrived.

corn-fed chicken supreme with truffle mash, wild mushroom sauce & crispy kale

The chicken was perfectly cooked, it was nicely seasoned, tender and moist and had a crispy skin. The wild mushroom sauce was excellent, creamy, nice mushrooms, and a tasty sauce. The truffle mash needed a lot more truffle but was smooth and creamy. The kale added much needed colour and texture to the dish.

I really enjoyed the dish, it was well balanced, cooked well, and delicious. This is something I would order again if I had the chance.

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Skirt Steak Again

I was in London and staying at The Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel part is now a new build at the back. 

The menu changes every so often, and they always seem to have a range of choices, that means it can be difficult to choose what to have.

I was pleased to see that the seared Owton’s skirt steak with salsa verde and pecorino was back on the menu. I had it last year and really enjoyed it, so I ordered it again.

This was a nice piece of chargrilled skirt steak served with a tasty salsa verde and shavings of pecorino.

skirt steak

The steak was nice and tender and tasty in its own right, but I the pecorino and the salsa verde added to the dish.

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Scarsdale’s shoulder of South Coast lamb

Scarsdale's shoulder of South Coast lamb

I was in London and staying at The Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel part is now a new build at the back. 

The menu changes every so often, and they always seem to have a range of choices, that means it can be difficult to choose what to have.

One thing that I did like the sound of, which I hadn’t seen before was the Scarsdale’s shoulder of South Coast lamb, served with a rosemary potato rösti, sautéed kale, red currant gravy.

It was one of the more expensive items on the menu, but I did like the sound of it, so I ordered it.

It did look quite impressive, this was a big portion of lamb shoulder.

However I will be honest I was a little disappointed, I wonder if that was because I had quite high expectations. The lamb was lovely and tender and did have a lot of flavour. However, though it had been slow cooked, it was obviously reheated for my plate. I think it could have done with a little more caramelisation, which would have added more flavour.

The rosemary potato rösti was also disappointing, it was packed with flavour, but it needed to be more crispy. It was quite soft. I did enjoy the kale and the gravy was nice.

Though it wasn’t perfect, it was nice, however I don’t think if it was on the menu again I would order it.

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Very Crispy Squid

I was in London and staying at The Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel part is now a new build at the back. 

The menu changes every so often, and they always seem to have a range of choices, that means it can be difficult to choose what to have.

One dish I have a lot, at a lot of different places is crispy squid. So seeing it on the menu this, I decided I would try this version.

This was a nice sized portion for a starter, the squid was in a crispy batter and was garnished with coriander, sliced red chilli, a wedge of lime, and some sriracha aioli.

Crispy Squid

The batter was very crispy, probably too crispy. When I tried to cut the squid, the batter more often than not fell off the squid. The squid was tender though. I  wasn’t totally enamoured with the sriracha aioli, I think I would have preferred to have some good old plain aioli.

I did enjoy the starter, wasn’t the best crispy squid I have had, but certainly it was better than most.

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Time for a Roast Beef Dinner

I was in London and staying at The Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel part is now a new build at the back. 

The Fox and Goose is part of the Fullers’ chain of hotels and pubs. I have stayed before at Drayton Court in West Ealing, and have had their Sunday Roast before and enjoyed it. I have though not had the chance to try the Sunday Roast at The Fox and Goose.

The plate arrived and it was a huge pile of delicious goodness. 

Roast beef dinner

There were roast potatoes, roasted parsnips, roasted (heritage) carrots, buttered kale, peas, cauliflower cheese, a good portion of pink roast beef, and topped with a huge Yorkshire pudding.

It looked very impressive and I was glad I was hungry. It was just as good as I remember it, possibly a little better.

The star of then plate was the roast beef, there was plenty of it and it was tender and tasty. The roasted vegetables were delicious, well seasoned, with the potatoes being crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. I liked the kale and peas. The Yorkshire Pudding was really nice as well.

It can’t be easy serving a roast dinner to order over an evening, but I think that the time did a really good job and I enjoyed my food.

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Time for Park’s Kitchen

I realised I was spending too much time walking around thinking about where to eat. So I did a quick perusal of Google Maps. I decided I would go to Las Iguanas, mainly as I had a £10 voucher from their app I could use. Having arrived in Ealing I went to look at Las Iguanas, I decided despite the voucher I wasn’t really in the mood for Las Iguanas. I remembered I had blogged about my visit there in Birmingham in 2022.

Overall I was a little disappointed. I think this was more down I had quite high expectations about the food, and it was just okay. I don’t think I will be going out of my way to visit Las Iguanas anytime soon.

So made the decision that I might go to Las Iguanas, but would first walk around Ealing again. I might be tempted by someplace else. Which is why I found myself standing outside Park’s Kitchen.

I had seen on previous evenings it had been popular and I quite liked the look of the menu. They had space, so I went in and asked for a table. Sorry Las Iguanas you were close, but not close enough. 

Inside it was more cafe like than restaurant, but still a pleasant environment in which to eat a meal.

Though I had looked over the menu outside, I still looked over the menu sitting at the table. There was quite a bit of choice about different kinds of meals, and then combinations of said meals. I decided I would go for the meal deal, though I messed up by ordering a beer instead of a soft drink.

So I had a smaller portion of Tofu and Seafood Soup Soondubu Jjigae.

This was followed by the Seafood Bibimbap.

Alongside I had a portion of vegetable Mandu. These were fried vegetable dumplings.

Actually all the food arrived near enough all at the same time.

The soup was rather nice, the tofu was soft, there was a good portion of seafood in the soup, and there was lots of flavour. I quite liked it.

The Bibimbap arrived in a really hot stone bowl (in a wooden case). Inside was rice, vegetables, and seafood. It was a process of using the heat from the bowl to make the dish. I did like the dish and it was an interesting combination of flavours and textures.

The Mandu were just okay, nothing special.

Though the service was prompt and efficient, I did feel it was a little frosty. Not that was a problem.

I would though certainly visit again. The food was delicious and tasty.

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Going Vegan at Wagamama

When I was staying in London for a few days I went off to Ealing to get something to eat. I did think about going back to Polka, but it was closed on Mondays. Reinata was another place I had considered, but they had gone back to their Winter opening times, so wasn’t open in the evening until Thursday. After spending way too much time walking around Ealing I decided I would visit VanTan again. I had enjoyed my last meal there, so after looking at the menu outside and choosing the Braised Fish Claypot. This was described as braised fish steak caramelised in a sweet savoury sauce with steamed rice. I was given a warm welcome, and handed a menu. Alas though the fish dish was on the menu outside, it wasn’t on the menus at the table. Rather than have something else, I decided I would head off to Wagamama instead. 

I had an equally warm reception at Wagamama. I was shown to a bench and I had a look over the menu. I chose three dishes at Wagamama. Generally I would have two, but was feeling peckish, and it was difficult to choose.

The first dish I chose was the crispy chilli mushrooms. A vegan version of the crispy chilli squid. This was coated and fried crunchy oyster mushrooms. They were dusted with a red pepper powder and served with a chilli and coriander dipping sauce.

The crispy chilli mushroom was nice, not as nice as the chilli squid, but was tasty.

The second dish was one I have had before, which was the mixed mushrooms bao buns. This was mixed mushrooms with crispy panko-coated aubergine, creamy vegan mayonnaise. topped with coriander.

I did feel the mushroom bao buns could have had a lot more mushroom in them, what mushroom was there was slightly overpowered by the crispy panko-coated aubergine.

For my main dish I had the silken tofu gochujang rice bowl. This was something I hadn’t had before. It consisted of silken tofu coated in a spicy gochujang sauce with bok choi, pickled cucumber, snow onion slaw and red onion. It was served on a bed of sticky white rice. finished with spring onion, sliced red chilli, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and red pepper powder.

This was an interesting dish, and when it arrived it surprised me. Why it surprised me I don’t know. I guess I was expecting more of a hot tofu dish with rice, whereas this was more a salad with rice and deep fried tofu.

The silken tofu was excellent. I really enjoyed the dish, there was a nice mix of different textures and flavours. The bok choi was a little tricky to eat with chopsticks and there wasn’t a knife to cut it either.

I didn’t plan it, but all three dishes were vegan. Overall I enjoyed all three dishes and would certainly have them again.